NERVI IN 1S5S. 347 



them. [Soth traN'ellers had come here b^■ '•V^tturino" in 

 October 1S5S. and \vent to the X'iUa (JropaUo. T')ie\' 

 wandered about its hir<);e estate channed b\' the hixuri- 

 ancc ot the soutliern \'egetation. Then tlieA' seated them- 

 seh'es near a ■•]-)icturcs(,|ue and lott\' pa\'ilion. in a noolv in 

 the rocks close to the sea, wliere a sniaU half-shattered 

 boat, h'inij' in the anple of a ^^•all, close to the ruins of 

 an old watch-tower, afforded a comfortable restintr ]-)lace". 

 Here the\' dreamt awaA' "some truh' enjovablc hom's. to 

 be counted amonij the most blissful of our joiirnev in 

 this southern retfion so hio'lih' fa\'oured hv hea'V'en". At 

 their feet "the sea, o-limmerinix and shimmerincr in the 

 hot mickhu" sun. sano- its lullab\'". E^'er\■tl^ino■ around 

 them seemed to be shimberinq. "Iridescent li/.arcls sinined 

 their ^'raceful bodies as thev slept amono- the perfimied 

 herbs on the old walls of the tower". In these hap]i\' 

 musin_£^s it seemed to them "as thouo;h the^' \^'cre in com- 

 munion \\'ith the crreat Mother of all Beinn-s. ^-^-ho takes 

 back into her all-embracinsr bosom each of the million 

 children she has borne; ever modellinfj and remodehinfr 

 the material of their organisms into ne^v shapes and forms 

 till the end of time.'' 



Adolf Stahr could still call the grounds of the Hotel 

 Gropallo, no\\' so much fre(_|uented hv visitors, "a hea- 

 venh'' solitude of Nature". As late as IS(i5 Nervi is 

 bareh- alluded to in the third edition of I^aedeker's 

 "Northern Itah'". In this(juide the lirst inns mentioned 

 on the road between Genoa and Spezia are at Chiavari. 

 It took eleven hours to tra\'erse this distance in the stage 

 coacli. Nervi was more fulh' described in the guidebooks 



